Rockford Sun

In a recent Facebook post, Illinois state Sen. Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) shared a statement regarding Public Act 11-1123, which restricts local control over the siting of renewable energy projects.

"I stand with the county leaders across the 45th District that want to fight back against this terrible law," he said in the post. "I voted against it when it was passed during the January [lame duck session] and will continue to voice my disapproval of this loss of local control."

The post also shared a link to a longer statement published on the senator’s official website.

“I stand with the counties that want to fight this new law," Chesney said in the statement. "The new regulations would allow a wind tower to be built as close as 200 feet from a property line, which is outrageous. Even for the larger blades, we’re talking an approximate setback distance of a football field. If it’s OK for these gigantic wind towers to be built this close to property lines, perhaps the Democrats who approved this law would like to have one right next to their own houses.

“This is yet another bad law passed by Democrats with zero Republican support. Without even a shred of concern for those living in rural parts of the state, they stripped counties of local control and pushed their agenda at the expense of people’s property values and quality of life.

“These are massive structures, and rural counties have done a good job of balancing the need for clean energy with quality of life issues for the citizens they serve. But Chicago and suburban Democrats are again deciding they know what is best for those who live outside of Cook and the Collar Counties. They have stripped away local control, and now there is little that can be done to stop these enormous structures from being built, and little opportunity for proper oversight.”

House Bill 4412 specifies that the siting of a commercial wind energy facility must include at least one public hearing within 45 days of the filing of a permit application, the General Assembly website said. It further requires that counties with conflicting zoning ordinances change their zoning ordinances to comply with the bill, It also mandates setback requirements, blade tip height restrictions, sound limitations and other restrictions on and regulations for commercial wind and solar energy facilities. The bill additionally limits a county's ability to regulate commercial wind and solar energy facilities.

Iroquois County is one of several counties expressing concern over the act and had passed a resolution opposing it, a recent report from the Times-Republic said.

“The act will take away the rights of the county to determine zoning in the rural areas,” County Board Chairman John Shure said in the report. He added that there is also a mile-and-a-half setback required from any town, city or village, which would risk prohibiting future growth.